The Letter
by TheRoseOfShadows
Summary: Mrs. Lovett was able to get Lucy's body in the furnace and out of Mr. Todd's vision. Will all their problems taken care of, what lies ahead? A certain letter tells them, that's for sure. Better summary inside. Sweenett! First Sweeney fic! Needs new title!
1. Everything Is Done

**This is my first Sweeney Todd fic. This starts right after Mrs. Lovett sees Lucy's body. What if she did manage to get Lucy's body into the furnace before Sweeney got down there to help her. Lucy's body was burn and now there was no proof that Lucy had lived. After Lucy was burned, Sweeney comes down and that's where we will start. Oh and when Mrs. Lovett gets a letter from her dear old Albert's family, what is she to do? No one knows that he died! And they might just take away Mrs. Lovett's place since no one like her in the first place. Can Sweeney Todd fix that little problem? It shouldn't be a problem since Albert's father is becoming so old he can hardly see and he's been married so many times, the woman he's with probably doesn't even know what he looks like. I do not own anything from Sweeney Todd. Nothing.**

Chapter One

Mrs. Lovett wiped her forehead and slumped against the furnace's door. Even though it was hot she felt deathly cold and she couldn't help but thank the door for its heat. Footsteps could be heard from the stairs and she briefly looked up just to see a blood covered Sweeney Todd come down. "What's the matter?" He asked, a slight worry tone in his voice. Even with him covered in blood, she still felt her heart lurch for him. She loved this man, no matter how crazy or evil he may have seemed.

"Just got my dress, that's all, love." She said breathlessly. Sweeney turned his head to stare at Judge Turpin's bloodstained body. She pulled herself upright and walked to Sweeney's side. "I was just puttin' the bodies in there." She bent down slowly and grabbed Turpin's shirt. "'Elp me get him in the furnace, will ya?"

Sweeney grabbed her arm and pulled it slowly off Turpin's shirt. "Clear the meat grinder. I want his pie." He said darkly. Mrs. Lovett stared at him for a moment, wondering if he was actually serious. Slowly he turned his own head to stare at her.

"What about Tobey?" Mrs. Lovett asked softly. The poor little boy had disappeared after she had locked him in here. He was probably terrified once he figured out what was everything around him though she thought she could get Mr. Todd here before he freaked out. Although he had somewhat figured out what Mr. Todd was up to, she couldn't help but not want the little boy gone.

"What about him? The little weasel's gone." Sweeney asked, finally letting go of her arm. At times, he didn't understand Mrs. Lovett. It was probably because she was a woman and after all, they did have soft hearts as she did once mention.

Mrs. Lovett opened her mouth but stopped as her eyes drifted to the grate of the sewer. "Tobey...come out love. We're not gonna 'arm you." She said, pointing to the grate. Sweeney's gaze followed her pointing finger and the look of realization appeared on his bloodied face. He fingered his razor and walked over to the gate, snatching it up quickly and throwing his other arm down there. There was a sharp yell and Sweeney had to let go of the grate and use both hands to slowly pull the struggling boy up.

Sweeney cursed as he got the boy halfway up, struggling with the rest. He was heavier than he looked and he wasn't as strong as he use to be. He glared over in the direction of Mrs. Lovett and she hurried over there, snatching the back of Tobey's trousers and helping Sweeney drag the boy out of the sewer. Tobey looked terrified and his eyes were shiny with unshed tears. Sweeney reached for his razor and pulled it out, giving a devillish grin at Tobey.

"Mr. T!" Mrs. Lovett gasped, pulling her arms around Tobey and pulling him close to her. "He's already scared 'alf to death!"

"Then let me get to the other half, Mrs. Lovett." He said angrily, raising his razor once again.

"No!" She cried and Sweeney put his razor down and stared at her to explain herself. "Tobey, dear..." She said softly as he sobbed into her bosom. She pulled him away from her to look at him. "Now why did ya go runnin' off like that? Didn't you say that nothing's gonna harm me while you're around?" She asked him.

He sniffled and looked up at her, realizing he was being given one chance. "I promise I won't tell no body, Mum! I'll work harder than ever." He pleaded, begging for his life.

Mrs. Lovett looked up at Sweeney, who looked like he opposed the whole idea. He slowly put away his razor. "Now, Tobey, dear. All you 'ave to do is keep this lil' secret between the three of us. You, me, and Mr. Todd." She said, pulling him close again. Once again, things were back to normal, or as good as normal could get.

&

"Are you sure we should be keeping him alive? One slice to the throat would be all it takes." Sweeney asked her softly as they both stared at Tobey, who had passed out after inhaling too much Gin. Sweeney had cleaned up and looked quite well for someone who had brutally murdered three people in one evening. He raised up his half-eaten pie and took a big bite out of it, chewing it slowly. "Never knew Judge could taste so good." He added.

Mrs. Lovett laughed quietly. "He's just a boy, Mr. Todd." She answered just as softly. She was slightly out of breath from just sitting this close to him. This time he wasn't looking all too depressed or rambling on about his Lucy. He still thought she was dead. If only he knew...well if he did knew, he probably would have killed her. "Who knows? He could become your apprentince perhaps?" She looked over at him.

Sweeney looked over at her. "My trade is not one to be taught. Besides, who's going to take over your pie shop, Mrs. Lovett, when your legs give out?" He asked her, raising his eyebrow slightly. She kept her mouth shut. He had a point he did. They both sat quietly for a moment as Sweeney finished his pie. The dim sunlight was beginning to show above the buildings and the sky was turning a lovely shade of gray. It was going to rain today, Mrs. Lovett could feel it in her bones.

Sweeney slowly slipped out of the seat and walked towards the window, crossing his arms and staring out at all the early risers. "So, Judge Turpin is dead. The Beadle is dead. What's left now?" He asked, his voice now a mere whisper.

Mrs. Lovett smiled and rose up out of her chair as well, standing beside him and folding her hands behind her back. "Customers. Pies. And shaving." She told him, leaning towards him. "We continue our lives as if this never 'appened. We start anew." She looked over hopefully at Sweeney before turning back to the sleeping Tobey with a sigh. Suddenly, she was turned around and found herself staring right into Sweeney's dark eyes. For a minute, she was frightened.

"Mrs. Lovett, have I ever told you that you're a bloody wonder?" He asked her, a hint of a smile on his lips.

Mrs. Lovett smiled. "I believe you 'ave, Mr. T. Now, we have respectable jobs to get going too. Chop, chop, Mr. T! These pies don't make themselves!" She said, grinning from ear to ear. Sweeney smiled and Mrs. Lovett almost swooned.

"Yes, Mrs. Lovett, we do." He said, removing his hands from Mrs. Lovett and brushed past her, but not harshly. So far, things were coming out good.

**All right, the letter will come in shortly. Should I continue? Is it good? What's Mrs. Lovett's first name, does anybody know? And I guess Albert's last name was Lovett? Please review! **


	2. The Plan

**Thanks for the wonderful reviews! I believe I will use Nellie, since everyone seems to like that one. I agree though...she does look like a Nellie. I do not own anything.**

Chapter Two

Mrs. Lovett couldn't believe the luck that Sweeney and her were having. Business was as good as ever, both the pie shop and the barber shop. The disappearance of Beadle and Judge Turpin had sent people talking all around town, but no one knew anything about the whereabouts when they disappeared. She sighed with content and turned her gaze back on Tobey. It had been three days since her secret almost had gotten out, three days since Mr. Todd had his revenge and both men were acting strange. She actually didn't blame Tobey for acting strange. The boy had not only learned that his feeling for Mr. Todd work was bad was right, but Mrs. Lovett was in on it too. His work method had changed from carefully obedient to outrageously diligent. He must have thought that if he didn't do his job around here, Mr. T was going to cut his neck open and she was going to serve him up as pie.

Mr. Todd's strange attitude was drastically different then Tobey's. She had seen him smile slightly in the past three days, although it looked very painful for him, and his mood had changed slightly. He wasn't always so depressed. Every now and then, he would be sullen after thinking about Lucy, but mostly he was just acting his normal self. Bitter and wanting to be left alone, though sometimes there was sunshine streaming through his cloud of cold-heartedness. "Mum," Tobey's voice said, bringing her back to reality. He shifted in front of her uncomfortably. "Are you all right?" He asked her.

"'O course I'm all right." She told him cheerfully. "Now, be a dear and go get some more pies for that gentleman over there, will ya?" She said, pointing to the lone man over in the corner.

"Yes, Mum." Tobey said, walking away quickly.

She sighed and turned to the man waiting next to her. "How can I 'elp you, Mister?" She asked him politely.

"Mrs. Eleanor Lovett?" The man asked back, raising a suspicious eyebrow at her.

"That's my name, dearie, but I prefer Nellie." She answered, placing her hands on her hips.

"This letter is to be arrived at your address to your husband, Albert. Where can I find him, my lady?" The man asked, taking a letter out of his jacket pocket and holding it up for her to see. The writing on the letter was enough to make Mrs. Lovett's blood run cold and her heart to stop. She knew the writing on the letter all to well enough. It was her husband's father's writing. About ten years ago, Albert and his father had gotten in a quarrel and had not talked to each other since. She knew enough to know what the argument was about. Her. Albert's father had hated her since the very beginning. Now, why Albert's father would want to go and settle things between them now was beyond her.

"He's gone..." She told him as her heart restarted, pounding loudly in her chest.

"For the moment?" The man asked lightly.

"For...the day. Tell you what, I'll hold on to that pretty little letter for my dear old husband Albert. Do you want a pie, sir?" She said quickly, flashing a big smile at him.

"No, my lady, but thank you anyway." He said, holding out the letter. With shaky hands Nellie grabbed the letter and watched the gentleman tip his hat to her before leaving her pie shop.

Tobey appeared not a moment too soon and offered the man who had been waiting patiently his pie, before going over to Mrs. Lovett. "Tobey, can you run the shop for a few minutes as I attend to somethin'?" She asked, looking up from the letter.

"Yes, mum." Tobey told her.

She smiled gratefully at him and turned on her heels, heading into her parlor and sitting herself on a comfortable chair before ripping the letter open and reading it. The letter was blunt and to the point. Albert's father, Grant, wanted to put the past behind them and talk to his only son before he could die. Apparently, the news of Albert's death hadn't arrived to Grant. At the moment though, she wasn't sure she wanted Grant to know. Grant hated her for some odd reason unbeknownst to her. If Grant knew that Albert was dead, he probably would have blamed her for his death and then would take back the shop and everything in it. He would only make sure she had something to live in before never speaking to her again.

Nellie bit her lip as she read the date when Grant would arrive. It was in fortnight. She considered the possibility of taking Mr. T, Tobey, and herself away for the weekend, but then Albert's father would get suspicious. Slowly, Nellie sat up a little straighter as an idea started in her mind. It was pretty risky, but if the years were as kind to Grant as they were to Mr. Todd, then the ingenious plan might work. She bolted up and with surprising swiftness, hurried to her beloved barber.

&

Nellie threw open the door and immediately felt horrible for doing so as Sweeney jumped, startled, and instead of slicing his customer's neck, the razor cut through the neck causing blood to spew everywhere. The customer cried out and threw his head back as the blood gushed out of his wound while he took a strangled breath. Sweeney grimaced and ripped the razor out of the man's neck and quickly pressed the pedal, letting the man slip out of the chair and fall down the trap, landing with a sickening thud. "Sorry." She apologized, closing the door and feeling kind of sorry for the poor man.

"What is it?" Sweeney asked, wiping his razor off on a piece of cloth and looking up at her with slight interest. Nellie, unable to speak, crossed the distance between them and handed him the letter. Pursing his lips, he put his razor down and took the letter, reading it. "I see..." He trailed off. Actually, he was wondering why she had shown him this. He saw no relevance that it had to him.

"Mr. Todd, Albert's father has loathed me from the very beginnin'. Never knew why. If he finds out that his poor Albert is dead, he's gunna take my pie shop away!" She explained heatedly.

"He can do that?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her now.

She frowned slightly. "Mr. T, he owns this building as well. He will kick you out too, if I know 'im." She answered.

Sweeney picked up his razor and marveled as it shone brightly in the dull sunlight that had managed to creep through the gray clouds. "Then bring me to me, my love. I'll give him a shave that he won't forget." He told her huskily.

Nellie's heart fluttered in her chest as she thought about how long she wanted that dreadful man gone. "Only one problem, Mr. T." She told him, her heart now sinking. He looked over at her. "He's as bald as my dear Albert was. And the 'air on his chin is his most prized possession he 'as."

Sweeney's expression darkened when he realized that their usual plan of getting rid of someone wasn't going to work. "Then what do you propose we do, Mrs. Lovett?" He asked, drawing close to her. She looked at him fearfully and confused, as if wondering why he looked as if he was going to hurt her when she hadn't done anything wrong. He put his razor in its proper place before looking at her once again, watching with satisfaction that her expression had melted away. He had loved Lucy, but Lucy was dead. There was no reason to keep grieving now that his justice had been served. It was time to look away from the past and dwell in the present and perhaps the future as well. It was obvious that Mrs. Lovett was infatuated with him. And every now and then, when Sweeney looked, he was slowly falling for her and her strange ways.

"Well, since Albert's father is almost blind, I was thinkin' that you could pretend to be Albert..." She said, trailing off at the end, bracing herself for his reaction.

Sweeney's eyes widened and he stared at her in shock for a moment. "Mrs. Lovett, have you seen your husband's picture lately?" He asked her. Nellie blinked and looked at him confused. "Come with me, my dear." He grabbed her arm and led her out and down the stairs to her shop. Tobey looked up inquisitively as they entered the store. Sweeney brought her right to wall where her husband's picture was. "Tobey, come here boy." He yelled. Tobey scurried over to Mrs. Lovett's side. "Do you see any resemblance between Albert and me?" Sweeney finished, staring at Tobey before pointing to the picture.

"No, sir." Tobey answered, unsure if that was the right answer.

Nellie laughed. "Mr. T! Such a jester you are!" She told him, smiling. "I'm not sayin' you have to gain weight and shave your hair. You just have to be here, actin' like Albert. Albert was always talkin' 'bout goin' on a diet. And Tobey, what was the name of that piss smellin' concoction that you had been tryin' to sell?" She turned to him.

"Pirelli's Miracle Elixir." Tobey quipped.

"And we can just say it worked. And…Tobey can be our son." She said the excitement clear in her voice. Sweeney and Tobey exchanged glances with each other. Tobey only tolerated Sweeney because of three simple things. One was because Mr. Todd was an adult and Tobey was still a child. Two was because Tobey's adoptive mum, Mrs. Lovett, adored Mr. Todd. And three was because that after finding that Mr. Todd killed people, Tobey found out that it would be better just to keep his mouth shut like a good little boy and live with Mr. Todd and Mrs. Lovett then risk the wrath of Mr. Todd and be killed.

"Mrs. Lovett..." Sweeney began slowly, unsure if this would work or not. Sweeney was pretty sure that if this man was as blind and old as Mrs. Lovett had said, he could probably just slice his head off if he wasn't in for a shave.

"Oh, this is just smashing!" She said happily, looking over at Sweeney.

Sweeney sighed and made an attempt to smile, which actually was more horrible than it sounded and made Tobey fear slightly for his life. "Whatever you say, my love." He told her, dropping the painful smile. This plan couldn't be that bad. Could it?

**I hope everyone enjoyed that! Review and I'll update very quickly.**


	3. Spick and Span

**I'm so sorry it took me so long to update! I got grounded! I'm done now so here's the new chapter! I hope you like! **

Chapter Three

The next day, when Nellie woke up, she pulled her hair up and out of her face and put her work clothes on, which was an old dress that had seen better days. She filled a large bucket half full of warm water and even went down to the market to buy some soap. With a rag in hand, she began to attack the rooms in her house. First, she began to dust. She had to admit over the years she had gotten lazier about keeping her house in tip top shape. Now, she regretted her choice of neglecting her house. After dusting everything in her parlor, she started washing the floor. "Mum?" Tobey's sleepy voice could be heard in the doorway. She looked over her shoulder to see him rubbing his eyes. He must have just woken up. "What are you doing?"

"Cleanin', my dear. Now, I'll be busy with this so I'll need ya to make pies. Think you can handle that for me?" She answered sweetly, rubbing her forehead with the back of her hand, smudging dirt on herself.

"Yes, mum. Do you need any help other than the pies?" Tobey asked. He knew she was getting old and she shouldn't be getting on her hands and knees like that.

"No, no, but if you can tell Mr. T to start cleanin' up his place, that would be sweet." She told him, wringing out her rag after dipping it into the warm water.

Tobey would have rather cut his hand off but he nodded and left Mrs. Lovett to her cleaning. He exited the pie shop and started the dreadful climb to the barber shop. Hesitantly, he knocked on the door and after a minute, it opened to Mr. Todd. "Yes, boy?" He asked, glaring down at him.

"Mum sent me up here to tell you to start cleaning your place. She's in a cleaning frenzy." He told him quickly. He fidgeted under Sweeney's gaze and then slowly turned around and scampered down the stairs to make more pies. Sweeney frowned and closed his door. Why did he have to clean his place? It was just fine as it was.

After taking all morning and all the afternoon, dusting everything in her entire house and then washing all the floors, Nellie collapsed on her couch, sighing. She was definitely tired and yet there was still so much to do. She had to clean all her sheets, check Mr. Todd's cleaning, restock on everything, and buy some things. Tobey was looking a bit wild with his unkempt hair and she had decided that he would do best with a trim. He needed some new clothes too. She sighed again. This was going to be one busy fortnight.

"Mum, the pies..." Tobey began, coming into the parlor but stopping at the sight of Nellie. "Mum, are you all right?" He asked worriedly, rushing over to her side.

"Yes, yes, of course." She assured him, sitting up and touching his cheek. "Floors are clean and dustin' done." She stood up and smoothed the wrinkles out of her dress. "I better go get ready. I'll be back in a jiffy."

"Maybe you should rest some more, Mum." Tobey told her, frowning at her.

"I'm good." Nellie said, brushing past him and hurrying to get ready for the evening. She put on a different dress and fixed her hair before going back to the shop's front, where Tobey was eating his pie for dinner. She had to admit that the boy could bounce back quickly enough. She would have thought that after finding out that the meat in the pies was human, he would have stopped eating them, but no. "I'll go give Mr. T his dinner. I swear, if it wasn't for me, Tobey dear, he'd die of starvation." She said, shaking her head as she grabbed a platter, a plate, a pie, and some liquor. She picked up the platter once everything was set and walked out of the shop and up the stairs briskly, knocking on the door lightly.

The door opened and Sweeney peered out. "Dinner is served." She told him brightly. He opened the door further and Nellie entered the room, placing the platter on the cabinet. "Mr. T! Didn't I tell Tobey to tell you to clean up this place?" She exclaimed, viewing the room and placing her hands on her hips.

"Yes." Sweeney answered, straightening himself up. "I did clean up...some."

Nellie frowned and glanced around again. "Moving your picture frame from the left side to the right, isn't cleanin' up, Mr. T." She sighed and grabbed the door handle. "I need ya to trim Tobey's hair tomorrow. It's a lil' bit on the wild side, don'tcha think?" She said, looking over at him. Sweeney shrugged. "Now eat. You're all skin and bones, Mr. T!" She added, turning to the outside. She jumped back, startled, at the man who was standing there. "Ah, gave me a fright, ya did." She said, moving past the man and heading downstairs, leaving Sweeney to his business.

&

Tobey entered the barbershop slowly, with wide eyes and frightened glances over his shoulder at Mrs. Lovett. He couldn't believe that she had said something about he needed a haircut to Mr. Todd. He stood not far from the doorway, watching Sweeney from a distance. Nellie pushed past him eagerly and with one hand on his back, led him to the chair. "Sit, love." She encouraged him. Trembling, Tobey did what he was told. "All right, Mr. T, there he is." She watched as he approached them quietly, holding a glistening pair of scissors. "Nothin' drastic. Just a trim, that'll do."

"Yes." He answered, raising the scissors so it gleamed even brighter.

"Ooh, I haven't seen that before." She said, raising her eyebrows at him.

"It's new." He told her.

"Well, all right, I have plenty work to be doin'. Come get me when ya done." She said and then walked out of the barbershop, leaving Tobey alone to deal with Mr. Todd. Tobey gulped and looked fearfully up at Mr. Todd, as he began to work. The trimming of the hair was done in dead silence, since neither boys wanted to talk to each other. Finally, Sweeney stepped back and stared at Tobey, squinting slightly.

"It's done. Go and help Mrs. Lovett now." He said, pointing at the boy. He shouldn't have gotten a break. He should be down with Mrs. Lovett, helping her make those pies. God knows that woman needed some rest time. She was always on her feet...always doing something. He had to admit it, she was a strong one.

Tobey rushed down to the bake house, only to find Mrs. Lovett not there. With a look of confusion, he slowly retreated back to the store and found Mrs. Lovett beating a large rug outside. Dust was just exploding off the rug with every blow that Mrs. Lovett dealt to the poor, worn rug. She stopped, sneezing violently three times, before glancing over at Tobey. "Oh, Tobey, you look so handsome. Come and help me with this, will ya love?" She asked.

Tobey nodded and took the dusty rolling pin from Mrs. Lovett. "Mum, what about the pies?" He asked as he began to beat it.

"We're not openin' today, love. I 'ave two much ta do." She answered. Tobey nodded silently, wondering what on earth Mrs. Lovett had to do to keep her so busy. "Once ya got all the dust out, can ya bring back inside?" She said over her shoulder, dusting the dust off of her dress and entering her shop, biting her lip. She headed over to a cupboard, where she kept all her sheets and such. She had to make sure those were washed and clean. She'd have to make sure she scrubbed the floors again and take Tobey shopping for some new clothes. She sighed and made some soapy water. Grabbing the bucket and her handy dandy rag, she slowly made her way to Mr. Todd's barber shop.

She knocked on the door, since her hands were full, and looked up as the door opened. "Mrs. Lovett?" Sweeney asked, raising his eyebrows slightly as he saw her stand there with a bucket.

"I'm here to clean." She told him, pushing past him and entering the barber shop, setting down her bucket and glancing around the room.

"I don't..." He began, but was quickly quieted by her.

"Nonsense. Spick and span, that's my motto, remember?" She said, giving him a slightly confused look. "Anyway, I need you to go shopping for some things for the house." She slipped her hand into her dress and pulled out the bag of coins and took out a small list and some coins. "All right, here we go."

Sweeney, frowning, unfolded the list, scanning the items. They were simple things, like soap and two new sheets. A few food items. "Shopping? Mrs. Lovett, I have many necks to be cutting." He told her.

"Pish posh, dear. You're closed for today. Now, go." With sudden vigor, she pushed him out of the door.

&

Sweeney stared at the woman who was talking about the different kind of sheets that she had available. He didn't even know that there was more than one! He picked up the first two white sheets he could, probably guessing they were replacing his much used, blood stained cloth. He held it in front of the woman and she quieted down, excepting the money that he gave her. He wandered through the market area, picking up the things that Nellie needed quickly and not so accurately. He just wanted to get out of the area. Too many people around him just made him uncomfortable.

Grabbing the last few things on the list, he quickly headed back to the pie shop, kicking the door open successfully and dumping everything he had on the counter. "I'm sorry but we're not..." Tobey began, thinking it was a customer as he dashed into the room, but quickly stopped. "Oh, Mr. Todd."

Sweeney all most gave himself a migraine from not glaring at the boy. Slowly, his eyes drifted to the bottom of Tobey's pants, which were wet. "Why are you dripping all over Mrs. Lovett's clean floor?" He asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously at the boy.

"Mum's got me washing what sheets we can use." He answered, pointing over his shoulder to another room.

Sweeney nodded slowly. "Where's Mrs. Lovett?"

"I think she might still be cleanin'." He answered, scratching the back of his head.

"Very well then. Continue on." He told him with a nod. He pulled away from the counter and headed outside of the shop and started up on the stairs. He opened the door and surveyed the room. A tired Mrs. Lovett was collapsed on the chair, sleeping peacefully. It was kind of ironic in a way. There she was sleeping and usually the ones that sat in that chair went into an eternal sleep which they would never wake up from. The difference was that he would never kill her. She had helped him so much. He quietly walked over to the side of the chair. He opened his mouth then closed it. He didn't want to scare the poor woman. They both weren't as young as they use to be. He placed his hand on her shoulder, lightly shaking her. "Mrs. Lovett." He whispered as soft as he could.

"Bloody pies..." She mumbled incoherently, turning in her sleep and frowning.

Sighing with defeat but knowing he could not just let the woman sleep in the chair, he moved his hand down to her knees and the other one to her neck and slowly lifted her up into her arms. His knees all most gave out on him but he shifted her and got a better balance. She wasn't extremely heavy but she wasn't particularly light either. He turned slowly to the door. He knew the consequences of sleeping in a chair would do to her back. He had problems like that himself. He managed to get through the doorway without decapitating Mrs. Lovett and then stared at the stairs. He started down the stairs one step at a time. Halfway down the stairs, his foot suddenly slipped. His other foot hit the ground and somehow Sweeney managed to run down the stairs uncontrollably, swing around and collapsed the nearest chair, all the while holding Mrs. Lovett. The sheer force of the chair smashing into the table from Sweeney falling into it caused the table to fall over. Mrs. Lovett bolted awake, nearly knocking her head and Mr. Todd's head together.

"What is this?" She asked sleepily, her eyes widening as she realized she was in Mr. Todd's arms and lap.

"Mrs. Lovett, did you know that you are very hard to wake up?" He asked instead, looking up at her as he released his hold on her.

She frowned and got off his lap, smoothing out her dress. "Only when I'm tired, Mr. T." She answered, looking over at the stairs and then back to him as she registered what exactly did happen. "You're lucky to be in one piece." She offered, holding her hand out for him.

He took it and pulled himself up, towering over the woman. "Count yourself in that luck as well, Mrs. Lovett. I doubt that will ever happen again." He told her. "Boy, come get this table!" He barked, glaring at the boy as he watched from the doorway. Tobey jumped slightly before rushing over to get the table. "Good night, Mrs. Lovett." He told her, heading towards the stairs again.

"Good night, Mr. Todd." She said softly, watching him walk back up the stairs and close the door. A slow smile appeared on her face. She knew Mr. T had a soft side.

**There will probably be one more chapter before Grant arrives! Can Mrs. Lovett get Mr. Todd to act like Albert? Please review and find out!**


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